An information system typically includes at least one computer system (a server) that makes information available so that other computer systems (clients) can access the information. The server typically manages access to the information. The server and clients communicate via messages conforming to a communication protocol and sent over a communication channel such as a computer network.
Information sources managed by the server may include files, databases, and applications on the server system or on an external computer system. The information that the server provides may be stored on the server, converted from other formats manually or automatically, calculated on the server in response to a client request, derived from data and applications on the server or other machines, or derived by any combination of these and/or other suitable techniques.
One type of information source that is often managed by a server is a digital image file. A digital image file is a picture that has been created or copied and stored in electronic form. A digital image file may be created by taking a picture with a digital camera, scanning a hard copy of a picture, etc.
Often, there are at least two types of digital images associated with the same picture, the “main” image and a corresponding “thumbnail” image. The thumbnail image is a smaller representation of the main image. Thumbnail images are usually intended to make it easier and faster to look at or manage a group of larger images. For example, software that allows a user to manage a number of images often provides a thumbnail version of each image so that the user does not have to remember the file name of each image.
Often, a client may request a thumbnail image from a server. This may be the case, for example, when a web server is transmitting a web page to a client browser. Many web pages display thumbnail images instead of full size images because the thumbnail images download more quickly and still communicate the intended expression to the user.
Sometimes, both the main image and the corresponding thumbnail image are included in the same image file. In other words, the thumbnail image may be embedded in the image file along with the main image. Accordingly, benefits may be realized by improved systems and methods for retrieving a thumbnail image that is embedded in an image file along with the corresponding main image.